In the midst of our eJizzing about Coty Shannon’s absurd omoplata-choke from his amateur debut last June, we completely overlooked the fact that the budding bantamweight star landed an equally mind-boggling submission in his most recent fight. Nemesis Fighting Alliance sent us this clip of Shannon’s win over Justin Jovanovic, which took place at NFA: Night of Fire on April 27th of this year.
The lanky grappler doesn’t look too graceful on his feet — a woman in the crowd laughs at the 1:23 mark, possibly at Coty’s footwork — but once he drags Jovanonic to the mat, it’s on, son. Shannon takes Jovanovic’s back, snakes his arms around Jovanovic’s head and under one arm, tosses his shin up on Jovanovic’s neck and squeezes out a tap immediately. So it’s sort of like a Peruvian Necktie, except with a gogoplata twist. Or something. I feel like Eddie Bravo would have a name for this move. “Oh yeah, brah, that’s West Coast Poison Control, all my students know that one [*exhales a cloud of smoke*].” Anyway, it’s awesome and you should all watch it.
In the midst of our eJizzing about Coty Shannon’s absurd omoplata-choke from his amateur debut last June, we completely overlooked the fact that the budding bantamweight star landed an equally mind-boggling submission in his most recent fight. Nemesis Fighting Alliance sent us this clip of Shannon’s win over Justin Jovanovic, which took place at NFA: Night of Fire on April 27th of this year.
The lanky grappler doesn’t look too graceful on his feet — a woman in the crowd laughs at the 1:23 mark, possibly at Coty’s footwork — but once he drags Jovanonic to the mat, it’s on, son. Shannon takes Jovanovic’s back, snakes his arms around Jovanovic’s head and under one arm, tosses his shin up on Jovanovic’s neck and squeezes out a tap immediately. So it’s sort of like a Peruvian Necktie, except with a gogoplata twist. Or something. I feel like Eddie Bravo would have a name for this move. “Oh yeah, brah, that’s West Coast Poison Control, all my students know that one [*exhales a cloud of smoke*].” Anyway, it’s awesome and you should all watch it.
To hype up Frank Mir‘s return to the Octagon at UFC 164 this coming Saturday, the UFC has released one of Frank’s career highlights — his first-round submission victory against pro-wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81, back in February 2008. Lesnar had first dipped his toes into the MMA pool the previous June, when he swallowed up Min Soo Kim at Dynamite!! USA in Los Angeles. That was enough to earn him an invitation to the UFC, but his debut fight would not be an easy one.
Lesnar wasted absolutely no time in dumping Mir on his back and firing some nasty shots from above. Then, referee Steve Mazzagatti makes a rather controversial choice, halting the action after Lesnar lands some punches to the back of Mir’s head. Theoretically, it’s the right call to make; Lesnar clearly lands at least four rabbit-punches at the video’s 11:08-11:12 mark. But how many times have you actually seen a UFC referee enforce that rule so quickly, without previous warnings? The Mazz deducts a point from Lesnar and re-starts the action with the fighters in a standing position. It’s a lucky break for Mir, who gets a moment to clear the cobwebs.
To hype up Frank Mir‘s return to the Octagon at UFC 164 this coming Saturday, the UFC has released one of Frank’s career highlights — his first-round submission victory against pro-wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81, back in February 2008. Lesnar had first dipped his toes into the MMA pool the previous June, when he swallowed up Min Soo Kim at Dynamite!! USA in Los Angeles. That was enough to earn him an invitation to the UFC, but his debut fight would not be an easy one.
Lesnar wasted absolutely no time in dumping Mir on his back and firing some nasty shots from above. Then, referee Steve Mazzagatti makes a rather controversial choice, halting the action after Lesnar lands some punches to the back of Mir’s head. Theoretically, it’s the right call to make; Lesnar clearly lands at least four rabbit-punches at the video’s 11:08-11:12 mark. But how many times have you actually seen a UFC referee enforce that rule so quickly, without previous warnings? The Mazz deducts a point from Lesnar and re-starts the action with the fighters in a standing position. It’s a lucky break for Mir, who gets a moment to clear the cobwebs.
That is, until Lesnar punches Mir to the mat — or did Mir fall down on purpose, to bait him? — and gets back on top. As Brock fires down punches, Mir establishes guard, then wraps up Lesnar’s leg when Lesnar makes the mistake of standing up. Mir grabs a kneebar, and Brock taps.
For those MMA fans who felt that a pro-wrestler could never be competitive in “real fighting,” it was a satisfying moment to see the big man toppled. But Lesnar was far from finished: He dominated Heath Herring in his next UFC fight, TKO’d Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion (!), wrecked Frank Mir in a rematch at UFC 100 that took in 1.6 million pay-per-view buys, and defended his belt for the second time in a classic comeback-fight against Shane Carwin at UFC 116.
Eventually, diverticulitis and an inability to hang with dangerous strikers sent Brock packing back to the WWE. But from 2008-2010, Lesnar really was the “Next Big Thing” in MMA, and Frank Mir deserves much of the credit for putting him over.
Maybe one day there will be a Bellator lightweight contender who’s talented enough to defeat champion Michael Chandler — but it ain’t gonna be the dinosaur guy. (No offense.) Season 8 lightweight tournament winner David Rickels had a good head of steam going into his title challenge against Chandler last night at Bellator 97, with four straight wins including a TKO of Saad Awad back in March. But against a truly world-class lightweight, the Caveman was in way over his head.
As you can see in the video above, Rickels didn’t even have a chance to get started. Chandler swarmed as soon as he staggered Rickels with a right straight, landing more follow-up power shots and diving after Rickels when the challenger hit the mat. In just 44 seconds, Rickels was unconscious and Michael Chandler (now 12-0 overall) had made his second title defense with another fearsome display of killer instinct.
Chandler’s next fight will likely come against Dave Jansen, the Season 7 lightweight tournament winner who hasn’t been able to face Chandler yet due to injury. Jansen is 6-0 in Bellator, and is clearly the most qualified man for the job. And yet, we can’t help but wonder how Chandler would stack up against some of the top 155’ers in the UFC — not like that would ever happen.
Speaking of dominant Bellator champions who could use a higher level of competition…
Maybe one day there will be a Bellator lightweight contender who’s talented enough to defeat champion Michael Chandler — but it ain’t gonna be the dinosaur guy. (No offense.) Season 8 lightweight tournament winner David Rickels had a good head of steam going into his title challenge against Chandler last night at Bellator 97, with four straight wins including a TKO of Saad Awad back in March. But against a truly world-class lightweight, the Caveman was in way over his head.
As you can see in the video above, Rickels didn’t even have a chance to get started. Chandler swarmed as soon as he staggered Rickels with a right straight, landing more follow-up power shots and diving after Rickels when the challenger hit the mat. In just 44 seconds, Rickels was unconscious and Michael Chandler (now 12-0 overall) had made his second title defense with another fearsome display of killer instinct.
Chandler’s next fight will likely come against Dave Jansen, the Season 7 lightweight tournament winner who hasn’t been able to face Chandler yet due to injury. Jansen is 6-0 in Bellator, and is clearly the most qualified man for the job. And yet, we can’t help but wonder how Chandler would stack up against some of the top 155′ers in the UFC — not like that would ever happen.
Speaking of dominant Bellator champions who could use a higher level of competition…
Before his welterweight title defense last night against Season 7 tourney winner Andrey Koreshkov, Ben Askren completely wrote off his formerly unbeaten opponent, describing Koreshkov’s ground game as “embarrassing.” It turned out to be a very apt description, although Askren should feel free to share some of that embarrassment.
If you’ve watched any of Askren’s performances before, I probably don’t need to tell you what happened, but in short, Funky Ben took Koreshkov to the mat in every single round, and threw down enough half-hearted strikes to avoid being stood up by the ref. He racked up a truly absurd striking differential, and there were moments in the fight where Askren was confident enough to do absolutely nothing without fear of reprisal. That’s undoubtedly impressive, although not particularly entertaining to watch.
But while Askren was successfully able to lead the crowd in chants of “USA!” early in the fight, the fans eventually turned on him, as they always do. After nearly 18 minutes of Askren’s safe, stifling, tedious top control, the referee called it a TKO, more out of boredom than anything else. Afterwards, Askren accused the fans of being Communists. If booing lay-and-pray makes you a Communist, then yes, I believe the workers should own the means of production. Fun fact: Ben Askren is currently without a contract. Let the bidding war begin!
Elsewhere on the card, Muhammad Lawal went back to his wrestling roots for a ground-and-pound-based victory over Jacob Noe to win the 2013 Summer Series light-heavyweight tournament final, while Patricio Freire bounced back to the W column with a savage third-round TKO against Jared Downing. (Note: Downing was an injury replacement for Rob Emerson, who reportedly pulled a muscle while banging Ian McCall’s wife.)
Bellator 97 July 31st, 2013 Santa Ana Star Center; Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Main Card:
– Michael Chandler def. David Rickels via KO, 0:44 of round 1 [for Bellator lightweight title]
– Ben Askren def. Andrey Koreshkov via TKO, at 2:58 of round 4 [for Bellator welterweight title]
– Muhammed Lawal def. Jacob Noe via verbal submission (punches), 2:51 of round 3 [light-heavyweight tournament final]
– Vitaly Minakov def. Ryan Martinez via TKO, 4:02 of round 3 [heavyweight tournament final]
– Patricio Freire def. Jared Downing via TKO, 0:54 of round 3
Preliminary Card:
– Bubba Jenkins def. Mike Barreras via TKO, 1:05 of round 2
– Anthony Leone def. Frank Baca via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:07 of round 3
– Rafael Silva def. Rodrigo Lima via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:03 of round 3
– Will Brooks def. Cris Leyva via TKO, 2:20 of round 3
– Jeremy Kimball def. Keith Berry via KO, 1:45 of round 2
– Shawn Bunch def. Russell Wilson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
– Donald Sanchez def. Cliff Wright via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
– Adrian Cruz def. Felipe Chavez via TKO, 4:24 of round 2
– Javier Palacios def. Richard Jacques via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Wisely, Martinez closed the distance and shot in as soon as the fight began, hauling Mayorga to the mat after a brief clinch against the fence. Mayorga temporarily controlled Martinez’s head with a broke-ass guillotine attempt of his own, but Level pulled out of it and started working on Mayorga from the top. When ‘El Matador’ tried to escape to his feet, Martinez wrapped up a choke and finished it immediately, earning the submission victory at 1:45 of round 1. The win bumped Level’s pro MMA record to 5-0-1, and sunk Mayorga’s to 0-1-0 w/ one no-contest.
This is usually the part where I’d say something like, “MMA isn’t for everybody, and Mayorga should go back to boxing before he embarrasses himself again.” But actually…this is kind of fun. Keep it up, Ricky!
* Yes, WSOF now runs fights in Nicaragua. The promotion has quietly been buying up local MMA promotions around the world and re-branding them, which is how ‘Omega MMA’ became ‘Word Series of Fighting Central America.’ We hear that they’re working on a more notable acquisition in Canada. Stay tuned.
Wisely, Martinez closed the distance and shot in as soon as the fight began, hauling Mayorga to the mat after a brief clinch against the fence. Mayorga temporarily controlled Martinez’s head with a broke-ass guillotine attempt of his own, but Level pulled out of it and started working on Mayorga from the top. When ‘El Matador’ tried to escape to his feet, Martinez wrapped up a choke and finished it immediately, earning the submission victory at 1:45 of round 1. The win bumped Level’s pro MMA record to 5-0-1, and sunk Mayorga’s to 0-1-0 w/ one no-contest.
This is usually the part where I’d say something like, “MMA isn’t for everybody, and Mayorga should go back to boxing before he embarrasses himself again.” But actually…this is kind of fun. Keep it up, Ricky!
* Yes, WSOF now runs fights in Nicaragua. The promotion has quietly been buying up local MMA promotions around the world and re-branding them, which is how ‘Omega MMA’ became ‘Word Series of Fighting Central America.’ We hear that they’re working on a more notable acquisition in Canada. Stay tuned.
After trading leather with Garcia for the majority of the first two rounds, Jung begins to step on the gas, landing a flying knee to Garcia’s grill and pouncing when Bad Boy slips to the mat. From there, it’s nasty elbows from the top, a scramble for back control, and the first “twister” submission in UFC history — with just one second remaining in the round.
After the jump: Jose Aldo wins the WEC featherweight title in November 2009 thanks to a second-round TKO of Mike Brown. Aldo would go on to defend the WEC belt twice against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan, before kicking off his current reign in the UFC. So answer me this — will Jung be Aldo’s toughest challenge in the UFC thus far, or will the champ be celebrating another victory in the cheap seats?
After trading leather with Garcia for the majority of the first two rounds, Jung begins to step on the gas, landing a flying knee to Garcia’s grill and pouncing when Bad Boy slips to the mat. From there, it’s nasty elbows from the top, a scramble for back control, and the first “twister” submission in UFC history — with just one second remaining in the round.
After the jump: Jose Aldo wins the WEC featherweight title in November 2009 thanks to a second-round TKO of Mike Brown. Aldo would go on to defend the WEC belt twice against Urijah Faber and Manny Gamburyan, before kicking off his current reign in the UFC. So answer me this — will Jung be Aldo’s toughest challenge in the UFC thus far, or will the champ be celebrating another victory in the cheap seats?
Because every country needs to have its own MMA promotion these days, Cambodia’s Khmer Warrior Championship put on an event in Phnom Penh on Sunday, headlined by Soung Sovantha (never heard of him) vs. Bun Heang (never heard of him). You can check out the fights on the khmersexystars YouTube channel…or just watch our favorite one above, which pits Von Savy against Bun Mang. Yep, two dudes named Bun were on the same card. It is what it is.
The fight itself is pretty uneventful, up until the finish. The two fighters appear to have Muay Thai backgrounds from their stances, but neither Savy (red trunks) nor Mang (blue trunks) engaged much for the first couple of minutes. There is a lot of feeling out, a tiny bit of clinch work and two effective leg kicks from Savy.
Then, it happens.
Mang throws a left leg kick to the body that is caught by Savy, who sweeps his opponent off of his feet, grabs both of Mang’s feet by the ankles and locks on a freaking Boston Crab.
Anyone who has first-hand experience with high school locker room wrestling matches knows that the Boston Crab hold, popularized by Professional Wrestling, hurts a whole lot if you’re bad enough to let your opponent apply it.
Because every country needs to have its own MMA promotion these days, Cambodia’s Khmer Warrior Championship put on an event in Phnom Penh on Sunday, headlined by Soung Sovantha (never heard of him) vs. Bun Heang (never heard of him). You can check out all the fights on the khmersexystars YouTube channel…or just watch our favorite one above, which pits Von Savy against Bun Mang. Yep, two dudes named Bun were on the same card. It is what it is.
The fight itself is pretty uneventful, up until the finish. The two fighters appear to have Muay Thai backgrounds from their stances, but neither Savy (red trunks) nor Mang (blue trunks) engaged much for the first couple of minutes. There is a lot of feeling out, a tiny bit of clinch work and two effective leg kicks from Savy.
Then, it happens.
Mang throws a left leg kick to the body that is caught by Savy, who sweeps his opponent off of his feet, grabs both of Mang’s feet by the ankles and locks on a freaking Boston Crab.
Anyone who has first-hand experience with high school locker room wrestling matches knows that the Boston Crab hold, popularized by Professional Wrestling, hurts a whole lot if you’re bad enough to let your opponent apply it.
There is no reason a Boston Crab should happen in professional MMA match. I mean, some catch wrestler types like Dan “The Wolfman” Theodore pretend that variations of it can happen in fights but that guy’s a nut-job and so are most catch wrestlers, so we were totally caught by surprise here.
For it to work, the guy on the bottom has to be much worse/weaker on the ground than his opponent, and the guy on top has to be equal parts clueless and bad ass for even thinking he can get away with it.
In this Cambodian MMA bout, Savy was indeed bad ass enough and earned a tap-out via Boston Crab. Not to get too technical here but if we had to guess, we’d say that this modified Crab was probably putting more pressure on the ankles and knee than the back of the eventual loser, given the angle.
But really, who cares. Because, BOSTON CRAB IN MMA.
Now watch the above video, then find your buddies and do some stupid stuff.
